The 50-year-old has been plagued by financial, legal, and medical woes for years and has not performed a major concert since 2001. His last studio album was released the same year.

A previous attempt to relaunch Jackson's career collapsed amid reports of ill health and court action.

See The Stuff Michael Jackson Doesn't Want You to Buy

Meanwhile, Jackson has filed a lawsuit to try to stop the scheduled auction of thousands of his personal possessions that include a pair of rhinestone-trimmed socks.

The King of Pop's company, MJJ Productions, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday against Julien's Auction House. It claims founder Darren Julien promised to send Jackson an inventory of sale items, but that the singer hasn't given permission to move them all.

The suit claims many of the items are "priceless and irreplaceable" and describes the attempt to sell them as "malicious, fraudulent, extreme, outrageous and without any legal justification whatsoever."

Julien was out of the country Wednesday and did not immediately respond to an e-mail and phone call seeking comment.

In December, Julien's company announced it would administer a five-day auction in April featuring more than 2,000 of Jackson's personal items, including his American Music Award for "Thriller," a velvet cape given to him by his children for Father's Day in 1998, a pair of rhinestone-trimmed socks from 1981 and a basketball signed by Michael Jordan.

Platinum and gold records, a customized Harley Davidson, a Rolls Royce limousine and his own original artwork were also set for sale, according to the original announcement.

MJJ Productions authorized the auction house to remove the items from Jackson's Neverland Ranch, according to court documents, but not to sell them without Jackson's permission.